Bracket



Feb. 19, 1946. Z 2,395,255

BRACKET Filed Oct. 17, 1944 INVENTOR.

Patented Feb. 19, 1946 UNITED .STATES PATENT OFFICE BRACKET AlfonsoDAvanzo, Yonkers, N. Y.

Application October 17, 1944, Serial No. 559,055 4 This inventionrelates to a device or bracket 3 Claims.

for suspending scaffolds and the like from the sides of ships and fromother structures.

An object of the present invention is to provide a portable bracket thatcan easily be detached and shifted along the rail of a ship or along anysimilar support from one point to another as desired.

Another object is to provide a device of this kind with a member forclamping it to its support so arranged that the grip of the device onits support will be increased as the weight thereon increases. r Y

Still anotherobje'ct is to provide a device of this kind with a combinedpivotal clamp and rope fastening means.

Yet another object is to provide a device of this kind with a combinedpivotal shackle and cleat for belaying a rope.

A further object is to provide a device of this kind with a pivotalcleat whereby the grip of the device will be increased as the pull onthe cleat increases. i

A specific object is to provide a bracket especially adapted formounting on the rail of a ships deck whereby a rope can be fastenedthereto for supporting a scaffold or for any other desired purpose.

A still further object is to provide a device of this kind that issimple, compact and rugged in construction and inexpensive tomanufacture.

Qther objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from'thedescription thereof to follow taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a part of the uppersection of the side of a ship with my improved bracket in position onthe rail for supporting a scaffold.

Figure 2 is a front View of the bracket.

Figure 3 is a side view thereof.

Figure 4 is a detail view showing the bearing portion of the supportingplate.

Figure 5 is a detail view showing the bearing portion of the shacklemember.

Referring to the drawing, my improved bracket is illustrated suspendinga scaffold Ill from the rail l I on the deck of a ship l2. It will beunderstood of course that the improved bracket may be used on buildingsor other structures wherever it is desired to holdfast a rope or thelike.

The bracket comprises a substantially V- shaped flat metal plate 13formed of stout stock. On the narrow end of the plate, an integralsleeve improved I4 is formed. On its opposite or wider end, the plate isformed with a downwardly extending web portion l6 joining the body ofthe plate with an inwardly extending flange ll thereby providing a spaceI8 between the flange H and said body of the plate and thereby providinga hooked portion at the wider free end of the plate. The plate ispreferably cast from a mold.

A heavy bolt !9 passes loosely through the sleeve 14 and projectsoutwardly beyond both ends thereof. The bolt has a head on one end and aremovable nut 2| on the other end.

Pivotally mounted on the bolt is a combined shackle and cleat memberformed of rounded metal bar material and comprising asubstantiallyU-shaped member 22 forming a shackle, the bolt passing through alignedopenings 23 in the upper ends of said U-shaped member. The arms of theU-shaped member or shackle curve or bulge downwardly and outwardly fromtheir upper ends as indicated at 24. The arms of the shackle also extendvertically upwardly above the pivot bolt forming extensions 25, whichextensions terminate in oppositely laterally extending arms 26 formingacleat. A cross-piece 21 connects the upper ends of the extensions 25.It

will be seen that the bulged portion 24 of the shackle bulges inwardlyto one side of the vertical plane of the axis of the pivot bolt.

In using the bracket, the outer end of the plate is hooked over thesupporting surface, for in stance, over the horizontal flange portion ofthe angle iron H comprising the rail of the ship so that said horizontalflange portion will be positioned in the space I8 between the body ofthe plate and the flange H, with the body of the plate resting on theupper surface thereof and with the web portion [6 engaging the outerfree edge of the horizontal portion of the rail and with the flange I!engaging the downwardly extending flange or bead 28 on the bottom ofsaid outer edge.

When the plate is in this position, the combined shackle and cleatmember will be vertically disposed, with the shackle extendingdownwardly. If it is desired to support the scaffold It, for instance,on the outer side of a ship as shown in Figure 1, it will be necessaryto use two of the improved brackets spaced apart. In this case, theupper hook 29 of a block and falls device 38 is hooked around theshackle and the lower hook 3! is hooked round the rope or chain 32supporting the scaffold. The pulling strain caused by the Weight of thescaffold and associated parts will tend to swing the lower horizontalend of the shackle to a position where it is on the same vertical planewith the axis of the pivot bolt but due to the bulged portion 24extending slightly beyond said vertical plane, said bulged out portionwill engage the side of the ship and the pulling strain will betransmitted from the shackle, which acts like a lever, through the boltto the plate thereby pulling the hooked portion of the plate toward theoutside of the ship into tight engagement with the free edge of the railthereby securely clamping the bracket to the rail. The greater theweight the more effectually will the bracket become clamped to the railor other supporting surface.

It will be understood of course that the shackle serves as a holdfastfor a rope or the like, which rope may be used for any of the manypurposes needed aboard ship.

The extensions 25 and the lateral arms 26 serve as a cleat for belayinga rope 33, such as seen in Figure 2. Therope may be used for any desiredpurpose. When the rope is turned round the lateral arms and a pullingstrain is exerted thereon, due to the outwardly curved shape of theextensions 25, said extensions and lateral arms will tilt outwardlyaround the pivot bolt and the shackle will be tilted inwardly againstthe ships side thereby clamping said shackle against the side of theship and said clamping action causes the plate to be pulled outwardlyinto tight engagement with the rail, thereby securely fastening thebracket in position. As in the case where the shackle is used forsupporting the scaffold or the like, the greater the pulling strain onthe cleat the greater the clamping action of the shackle.

For additional security in clamping the bracket to its support, such asthe rail of a ship as shown in Figure 1, or any other suitable support,a screw threaded bolt 34 may be threaded into a screw threaded openingin the inwardly extending flange I1, the inner free end of the boltbeing adapted to engage the under surface of the rail or other supportto aid in holding the bracket on its support. This is especiallydesirable when the bracket is not in use but it is desirable to maintainit in position on a support.

Whil I have illustrated the improved bracket in position on the rail ofa ship with the plate member horizontally disposed on the rail, it willbe understood that the bracket may be used on the spar deck of a ship inwhich case the plate will be vertically disposed with its hooked portionaround a cylindrical support such as a pipe or the like, and thecombined clamping shackle and cleat will be horizontally disposed.

It will also be understood that instead of making the plate member of aflat piece, the same results may be obtained by forming two divergingarm members with hooked outer ends for encircling the supportingsurface.

Changes in details might be resorted to without departing from theprinciple of the invention, and I desire to be limited only by the stateof the prior art and the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A bracket comprising a plate having a hooked portion for engaging asupporting surface, a shackle pivotally connected to said plate forfastening the end of a rope and for clamping the plate to its supportingsurface and a cleat integrally formed on said shackle for belaying aram.

2. A bracket comprising a plate having a hooked portion for engaging asupporting surface, a shackle pivotally connected to said plate forfastening the end of a rope, said shackle having a bulged out portionadapted to engage the supporting surface whereby a pulling strain on theshackle will be transmitted to the plate and a cleat integrally formedon said shackle for belaying a rope.

3. A bracket COIIlpIiSiI'lg a plate having a hooked portion for engaginga supporting member, and. having an integrally formed sleeve, a boltloosely mounted in said sleeve, a shackle pivotally connected to saidbolt, said shackle having a bulged out portion extending beyond theplane of the axis of the bolt adapted to engage a portion of saidsupporting member for the bracket whereby a pulling strain on theshackle will be transmitted to the plate and a cleat integrally formedon said shackle, said cleat having a portion curving outwardly beyondthe plane of the axis of the bolt whereby a pulling strain on said cleatwill swing the shackle into engagement with the supporting memberwhereby said strain is transmitted to the plate.

AIFONSO DAVANZO.

